Flags dipped to half-mast in Cincinnati, Ohio
last night and it wasn't necessarily in honor of the late Kid Gavilan.
Native sons Tim Austin and Ricardo Williams Jr., were handed their first
losses at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The conventional Marquez entered the ring confident of his chances
against Austin's southpaw style: His last two victories came against the
slick American southpaw Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson; and legendary trainer
Nacho Beristain anchors his corner—whose acumen was demonstrated
throughout the bout as he doled out honest, sound advice to his charge
at critical moments.

Both fighters were tense and cautious in round 1, with neither fighter
establishing an advantage. Austin, a notoriously slow starter, only
connected with 1 in 40 jabs, and barely threw any straight lefts—his
best punch. Although this was his 10th title defense, Austin's
inactivity (10 fights in six years) and creeping age (31) was apparent;
his legs, which were so far apart he looked to be doing a split, were as
stiff as a novice golden glover's. Between rounds Beristain advised
Marquez, "Control [his] left hand and you have the fight."

Round 2 offered little action, either. But Marquez made a few
adjustments, namely closing the distance between him and Austin, who
seemed content to hunt-and-peck, one punch at a time, from outside. The
first half of round 3 was a carbon copy of the former round, but in the
second half Marquez began to quicken the pace, closing in on and
stalking Austin with classic Mexican aggression. Between rounds
Beristain bid his fighter to throw combinations—right hands followed by
uppercuts and hooks.

45 seconds into round 4, Marquez got Austin's attention with a straight
right. The fight officially began to heat up, just as Marquez wanted it
to.

The champ cooled Marquez down with a tactical round 5, as his long jab
began to land and a few wide right hooks irritated his challenger as
well—by this point, Marquez was only anticipating straight 1's and 2's.
But HBO's expert commentator Emanuel Steward, who had picked Marquez to
win the fight, noted the Mexican's superior fluidity and speed; he got
the better of every exchange, Steward observed, whenever he committed to
3- and 4-punch combinations. Conversely, Steward was critical of
Austin's ungainly wide stance, which made it impossible for him to throw
punches in combination and left him off-balance after getting off.

Stewart had a good chuckle when, between rounds 5 and 6, Austin's
trainer Aaron Snowell admonished him to widen his stance and "get in the
trench." "Now I see where he gets it from," said Stewart.

At 2:15 into Round 6, Austin found his timing and began to work hooks
and digging uppercuts off the jab. Austin controlled the tempo in Round
7, which translated to very few punches (well below the bantamweight
average of 62 punches/round), and thrown at a distance suitable to his
70-inch reach. Marquez's fire seemingly tempered, he fought
lethargically.

Going into Round 8 Austin had turned things around...Or so it seemed,
if not for Nacho Beristain, who bluntly told his fighter he was losing
the fight. One senses another trainer might've waited another round or
so before sounding the alarm. What was essentially up until now an
interesting but somewhat wooden fight, offered an 8th round worthy of
Barrera-Morales 1 or even of Gatti-Ward 1.

At the sound of the bell, Marquez established a near frenzied pace. But
30 seconds in, Austin landed several clean power punches; in particular
a straight left to the jaw that backed Marquez up and had his eyes
rolling back like a couple of slot machine lemons. Just 45 seconds into
the round, Marquez was visibly shaken and exhausted. Austin let his
punches fly for the first time all night. Marquez managed to hang on and
collect himself, though, and exactly halfway through the round, throwing
straight lefts and rights to the head, he knocked a dazed Austin threw
the ropes. Austin managed to crawl back in the ring and got to his feet
at the count of 9—revealing the same mettle as when he once came from
behind to defend his title with a broken (not fractured) jaw.The champ
was able to stand but do little else, and an emboldened Marquez
proceeded to throw punches from every conceivable angle for the next 35
seconds. Referee Vic Drakulich stopped the fight 2:20 into the round.

An elated Rafael Marquez now joins his brother Juan Manuel Marquez, who
two weeks ago became the IBF featherweight champion, as one of the few
brother-combos in boxing history to become world champions. The Marquez
brothers are the first set of brothers to hold titles simultaneously
since the Canizalez brothers (Orlando and Gaby in 1991), who
incidentally held titles in the same weight class (bantamweight). Tim
Austin, who has been marred throughout his career for never having a
defining fight as a champion, and for never fighting the best
bantamweights of his era—Ayala and Tapia—was gracious in defeat. He will
now in all likelihood move up in weight and campaign in the competitive
featherweight division.

In the 10-round undercard, 140-pound Ricardo Williams, Jr. (8-0, 5 KOs)
lost a unanimous decision to last-minute substitute Juan "Pollo"
Valenzuela (15-6, 6 KOs). Williams, a 2000 Olympic silver medallist and
recipient of the largest signing bonus ($1 million) among the recent
Olympians, was scheduled to fight Juan Carlos Rubio (28-6-2). Rubio, who
would have been a formidable opponent for Williams, is a technical
fighter best known for spoiling the auspicious beginning of another
touted 140-pound 2000 Olympian, Francisco Bojado. Instead, Williams got
more than he bargained for in Valenzuela. What Valenzuela lacks in skill
he makes up for in determination and cojones. (And I can't think of a
more inaccurate moniker than "pollo" (chicken) for this 22-year-old
pressure fighter—who, incidentally, derailed the career of another hot
prospect Julio Diaz; and also hails from Julio Caesar Chavez's hometown,
Culican, Mexico.)

From the opening bell Williams had his hands full with Valenzuela, who
is essentially a junior middleweight, weighing 157 the day of the fight
to Williams' 149. Williams is a cute fighter with good hand-speed, but
he is a genuine 140-pounder who has no business getting into the ring
looking soft and overweight (144) as he did Saturday night.

For the first part of the fight, Williams relied on lateral movement
and light contact punches in an attempt to fend off the Energizer Bunny
Valenzuela. But the Mexican had no trouble popping right hand leads in
Williams' face all night long, and as the fight wore on, Williams could
no longer box on his toes and was forced to settle down and fight the
bigger man. The American demonstrated an impressive defense rarely seen
in such a young fighter; angling his body or moving his head just so, he
rarely got hit flush. Still, he absorbed more punishment in this fight
than in all his other pro bouts combined. To his credit, he fought like
a warrior in the 10th round and exhibited the same grit that he did in
the Olympic finals when he lost a decision to Mohamed Abdulaev. The CBZ
scored it a draw, the judges were not so kind: 98-92, 97-93, 97-93.

Ricardo Williams has all the boxing ability in the world, but until he
starts training like a champion, he will not be the $1 million baby as
promised. Larry Merchant summed up the verdict well in his post-fight
comments: "When you don't take an opponent seriously, he becomes a
serious opponent."